VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
“Support from Russian citizens has always helped us, and I’m confident that the government’s future line-up will rely on the people. We must never forget about the needs of ordinary people. We must always remember how government-level decisions influence the lives of all ordinary Russian citizens.”
"The Government, as I have said before, plans to compensate the region's imputed losses from the latest tax innovations. I am referring to a reduction in the profit and small business taxes and an increase of the tax rebate for people buying housing to 2 million roubles. This will allow the people to save double the sum during the acquisition of housing compared to the old scheme. This is why we have decided to turn over to the regional budgets an additional 0.5 percent of the profit tax and 100 percent of excise taxes on fuels and lubricants. The Finance Ministry has drafted the relevant amendments to the tax and budget codes."
"The use of maternity capital to pay mortgages. This norm should become effective in January 2009. We'd like everything to start working in the first half of January."
"The Government approved decisions on additional assistance to the citizens with mortgages. The idea is that we need a system of state guarantees to be provided through the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending, so that the people who bought housing with a mortgage but have lost their jobs because of the economic crisis, or lost a considerable part of their income due to decline in the operation of their companies, will be freed in 2009 from payment of mortgage loan interest, or payment of the principal debt due in 2009."
"Our [Russia and Argentina] economic relations are making steady headway. In the last four years, our trade has increased five times over to reach $1.5 billion. We are developing traditional directions of cooperation, and creating new opportunities."
"Argentina generates 20% of its electricity with Russian equipment. We could cooperate in nuclear power generation, space, and other high-tech spheres."
"We consider the expansion of big Russian companies like Gazprom, INTER RAO UES, Russian Railways, and some banks, the VTB Bank, for instance, in Armenia to be quite useful."
"I would like to note with satisfaction that bilateral relations are developing rather successfully in virtually every area, including the energy sector. We are implementing ambitious projects and maintain large-scale cooperation."
"To support liquidity, the Central Bank will give other banks an opportunity to refinance mortgage obligations guaranteed by the Housing Mortgage Agency, which boils down to government guarantees, as I said yesterday. That will enhance economic liquidity. More than that, the Housing Mortgage Agency will extend its practice of redeeming standard mortgage credits in direct support of banks active in mortgage loaning. That means private creditors will receive support, as well."
"Even at the start of next year, private persons will be able to use maternity capital for interest and mortgage payments. This requires legal and budgetary amendments - a measure that takes time but shall be urgently implemented. The population needs it no later than January 2009."
"We should protect the Russian personnel by cutting regional employment quotas for guest workers. It will be a temporary measure, considering Russia's long-term interest in workforce inflow. Today, however, we cannot offer foreigners as many jobs as before. This measure requires urgently drafting a relevant Government resolution."
"We ask banks to reschedule private clients' mortgage payments for next year. This is all the more practicable as bankers know what their clients can afford. In compensation, bankers should be entitled to rescheduled payment guarantees from the Housing Mortgage Agency."
"Whatever we do should concentrate on man. We must focus attention on helping honest workers who coped with their housing and other problems as best they could but are now in dire straits through no fault of theirs.”
"We would step up labour policies that would necessitate considerable allocations and demand target programmes. We should law away up to 50 billion roubles for the purpose. These, I stress, should be extra allocations apart from those already made to fund employment services in Russia's constituent entities. Such extra funding demands amending the law On Employment and the federal budget."
“Last decade, primarily in the early and mid-1990s, the system of sports schools for children and teenagers was discontinued. This is obvious: We have lost a lot of professional coaches and must now reinstate these programmes. Although we have made some strides in the last few years, it is not enough. We will step up these efforts despite all difficulties.”
“We are implementing a football-field construction sub-programme under the federal target sports-development programme. We are doing this in conjunction with the Russian regions. This implies construction of small football fields and large stadiums. All this is part of our plans which will not be downsized.”
“The whole point of our agreements with our Ukrainian partners is that we pass on to market pricing. The price of gas is linked to world oil prices, and if the oil price goes up, the gas price goes up to, if oil goes down, the gas price goes down and we will then lose some of our earnings. But that is fair, we do not control these prices.”
”Many things contribute to tariff growth. One of them is a monopolised services market. We have set up a fund for reforming the housing and utilities totalling 240 billion roubles, a huge amount, and we are not using the money elsewhere, despite financial difficulties: the money has been allocated and will be used for its stated purpose. But we intend to give it only to the regions that make their own moves to improve the housing and utilities situation.”
“We have taken a decision allowing the regions to adopt a simplified procedure and to reduce small-business taxes from 15% to 5%; regional funds for support of small businesses and micro-crediting funds that issue loans of between 200,000 roubles and one million roubles will continue to operate.”
“As for kindergartens, that is above all the responsibility of the regions and cities. At the federal level, we will do everything to encourage that work, we will help the regions to do it, but I would like to tell you that the shortage of places at kindergartens all over Russia has dropped by 30 percent in 2008 alone. That is a major step forward.”
